The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method.
An image processing system which reads an image using a scanner, performs a predetermined image processing on the read image using an image processing apparatus, such as a personal computer, and outputs the processed image to a monitor or a printer has been commonly known. In such the system, the resolution of the scanner is generally fixed, and an image to be processed is read in this fixed resolution.
Accordingly, in an ordinary image processing system which outputs an image in different resolutions when printing the image and when displaying the image, a scanner capable of reading the image in either the resolution used for printing or the resolution used for displaying is used in order to reduce processes of resolution conversion.
When outputting an image in a resolution which is different from that used when reading the image, the resolution of the image is converted by performing thinning or interpolation processing.
The resolution conversion is performed while outputting the image in most cases, therefore, the image processing apparatus has to perform the resolution conversion in synchronization with output timing, which is a considerable load on the image processing apparatus.